Never a dull moment: Eddie McGuire is proposing a Collingwood-Sydney blockbuster to rival league's State of Origin. Photo: Mathew Lynn

The Magpie boss and broadcaster has floated the idea of an Adam Goodes medal for best afield in the annual clash, a proposal bound to have detractors given recent history between the clubs and the now retired footballer icon.

McGuire said the AFL had "let slide" boundless opportunities to promote the code in NSW since a record 72,393 attendance for a round 21 Sydney-Collingwood clash in 2003 at Stadium Australia. It remains the biggest crowd at an AFL game outside Melbourne.

Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham, who at last week's meeting of club bosses discussed with McGuire reigniting grand-scale corporate and fan activity around the bout, said the match – re-imagined – could be Australia's biggest annual sporting event over several days.

Pridham is even flagging an annual meeting of all AFL club bosses in Sydney around the occasion, and possible temporary relocation of football shows.

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With the right promotion and fixture placement of what is currently the Lockett-Coventry cup, the Swans chief said it would be a guaranteed sell-out at the SCG.

In contrast, Saturday's round-one clash between the sides is expected to draw a crowd in the mid-30,000s to a ground with 45,000 capacity.

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"This could be as big as a State of Origin game if done the right way. If I have any disappointment it's the fact we were already there ... but then it has been let slip," McGuire said.

"That weekend you shouldn't be able to walk down a street without seeing a Collingwood scarf, cap or jumper on. At Taronga Park Zoo, on the harbour cruises, you name it; it should be just full of Collingwood.

"We would go en masse and we'd take over the town. We'd have functions everywhere and the great thing about when Collingwood goes on the march we've got everything from the caravan parks through to the penthouses full.

"That's why Bob Carr [former NSW premier] once rang me up and said I'll give you $5 million to play Anzac Day."

McGuire said the re-invented, cemented mid-season annual clash would probably work best on a Saturday night.

Both club bosses have discussed the concept with the AFL independently.

With their clubs only very recently engaged in a public slanging match over Sydney's round-one match relocation to the SCG, Pridham appreciates the irony of being in furious agreement with McGuire on a topic so soon.

Unable to resist one loaded reference to how he sees the AFL's pecking order, he said: "The Sydney Swans are the most-supported club in Australia with 1.2 million supporters, Collingwood have 800,000, so are the second-most-supported club. I think this would just be an absolutely fantastic event.

"I think this should be an event you mark off in your calendar like Anzac Day.

"I would like to think it would be an event where people are begging to get ... it should transcend the sport. I absolutely think it could rival State of Origin, which is clearly the greatest asset the NRL has. In the Swans-Collingwood game I think you'd have 800,000 barracking for Collingwood and 22 million barracking for the Swans."

For a variety of factors the crowds to Sydney-Collingwood home and away games have plunged since with the most relevant recent comparison of a 32,347 crowd when the sides met at Stadium Australia in round two, 2014.

The benefits of rebuilding the clash would be clear for the Swans and football in NSW. McGuire said it would provide Collingwood fans "just another great experience" and mid-year was the time to "turbo-charge" the AFL season in Sydney.